Gy Waldron Movies
- 2000
The second of the Dukes of Hazzard "reunion" films (the first was broadcast in 1997), this one features five regulars from the original series: John Schneider and Tom Wopat as fast-driving Luke and Bo Duke, Catherine Bach as their leggy cousin Daisy Duke, and James Best as inept lawmen Rosco P. Coltrane and Enos Strate. Hoping to raise money for a new Hazzard County hospital, the Duke boys pile into the General Lee and head for Hollywood, there to sell recordings of their singing efforts. Upon arrival in Tinseltown, Luke and Bo are robbed of both the records and the money earned from a contract. In their efforts to retrieve the stolen booty, the superannuated heroes run afoul of a cartel of Russian gangsters and international loan sharks -- and of course, are continually flummoxed by Cletus Hogg (Rick Hurst), the son of their late and unlamented nemesis Boss Hogg. Amazingly, the film contains no car chases and only one brief fistfight; evidently the producers felt that the singing of stars John Schneider and Tom Wopat was attraction enough. The Dukes of Hazzard: Hazzard in Hollywood premiered May 19, 2000 on CBS. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tom Wopat, John Schneider, (more)
The cautionary phrase "It could happen to you!" was seldom more appropriate than in this two-part, four-hour TV movie, inspired by a true story and based on actual court transcripts. The story begins in Fayetteville, NC in 1985, when Army sergeant Tim Hennis (John Corbett) is accused of murdering the wife and children of an Air Force captain. A combination of overzealous prosecution from the District Attorney's office and pressure from the armed forces and the media makes a swift conviction a fait accompli, though Hennis and his family continue to protest his innocence. Refusing to give up on the case, Hennis' defense team presses its own investigation, ultimately turning up a maelstrom of hitherto unknown evidence, surprise rebuttal witnesses, and a startling eyewitness testimony. First telecast by ABC, Innocent Victims was originally shown on January 21 and 22, 1996. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Hal Holbrook, Rue McClanahan, (more)
- 1994
Confessions: Two Faces of Evil is a "ripped from today's headlines" TV movie. Jason Bateman and James Wilder play a couple of mixed-up youths, both of whom confess to killing a cop. Investigator James Earl Jones is assigned to separate fact from fancy. Commendably, the film avoids concentrating on the scuzzier elements of the story; the emphasis is on the police, as they endeavor to see that justice is served. Confessions: Two Faces of Evil originally aired on January 17, 1994. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1989
Based on a novel by David Morrell, the made-for-TV Brotherhood of the Rose is unabashedly old-fashioned escapist espionage fare. Peter Strauss and David Morse play polar-opposite CIA agents, code names Romulus and Remus. Their superior-and father figure-is crusty CIA official Robert Mitchum. Though Romulus and Remus are devoted to Mitchum, he is only concerned with the greater good of the service-a philosophy that has become despotic over the years. Now Mitchum has determined that Romulus is expendable. Escaping from CIA assassins, Romulus and Remus stumble into a vast rule-the-world conspiracy called The Brotherhood of the Rose. Filmed in New Zealand, this was originally a long miniseries broadcast in two parts, on January 22 and 23, 1989 - and then edited down to feature length. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Billionaire Boys Club is the two-part TV adaptation of a book by Sue Horton (unpublished at the time of the film's first telecast). In flashback form, the story recounts the murder of Beverly Hills con artist Ron Levin (Ron Silver). The culprit is yuppie Joe Hunt (Judd Nelson), a sharp young commodities trader who has organized an investment firm with several of his prep school buddies, known as the Billionaire Boys Club. Part one, originally telecast November 8, 1987, traces Hunt's meteoric rise to wealth and power, and the means by which Levin worms his way into Hunt's confidence. In part two, shown the next evening, Hunt has already murdered Levin and carefully disposed of the body. The next step of the scheme is take over where Levin left off by conning an Iranian millionaire out of a huge sum of money. Meanwhile, other members of the Club begin to have qualms over Hunt's finagling. Their whistle-blowing leads to Hunt's arrest and convinction for murder. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Judd Nelson, Ron Silver, (more)
- 1980
Bo (John Schneider) and Duke (Tom Wopat) join forces with Texas Ranger Jude Emery (John Shearin) to capture "Snake" Harmon (Sam Melville), an outlaw race driver who traffics in contraband critters. Pursuing their quarry into the dismal reaches of Yuchee Swamp, our heroes try to catch a Snake by thinking like a Snake--with fascinating results. Featured in the cast is former pro football player and future Hollywood stuntman Ben Davidson. This episode was intended as the pilot for a weekly spinoff series starring John Shearin, which alas never came to be. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1979
Wildly popular during its six-season run on CBS, The Dukes of Hazzard focused on the ongoing adventures of Bo Duke (John Schneider) and Luke Duke (Tom Wopat), two cousins living in Hazzard County in the Deep South. Jefferson Davis Hogg (Sorrell Booke) is a corrupt local political bigwig who has long had it in for the Duke boys, as well as their moonshine-brewing Uncle Jesse (Denver Pyle) and their sexy cousin Daisy (Catherine Bach). Roughly once a week, "Boss" Hogg and the corrupt but inept local law enforcement officials under his command, led by Sheriff Roscoe P. Coltrane (James Best) and Deputy Enos Strate (Sonny Shroyer), would made trouble for the Dukes and/or their friends, and Bo and Luke would be forced to take the law into their own hands, usually with their help of their souped-up 1969 Dodge Charger, the General Lee. Country music legend Waylon Jennings sang the show's theme song, as well as serving as narrator. Wopat and Schneider briefly left the series due to a pay dispute in 1982; their characters were written out of the show, and Coy Duke (Byron Cherry) and Vance Duke (Christopher Mayer), two cousins previously never discussed on the show, stepped in to take their place, but Bo and Luke were back by the end of the season in 1983. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tom Wopat, John Schneider, (more)
- 1979
A team of phony song publishers cheat Daisy (Catherine Bach) out of fifty bucks in a songwriting contests. Hoping to recover the money, Luke (Tom Wopat) and Bo (John Schneider) end up smack dab in the middle of an FBI raid, right along with Boss Hogg (Sorrell Booke), who (of course!) is in cahoots with the crooks. Meanwhile, the bad guys gull Daisy into a fake recording session which may end up blowing all of Hazzard County sky high! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1979
Arte Johnson and Avery Schreiber) guest-star as a pair of dimwitted crooks who manage to rob Boss Hogg's bank while wearing Laurel & Hardy masks. With the Dukes in jail for brawling and the rest of the menfolk quarantined because of a poison-ivy epidemic, it is up to Daisy (Catherine Bach) to track down the robbers herself--little realizing that the man who "innocently" caused the epidemic, Tom Colt (Burton Gilliam), is the mastermind behind the heist. Ingredients essential to the ensuing action include the stolen "General Lee", with Cooter (Ben Jones) stuck inside, and the robbers' getaway Winnebago, with Daisy astride the vehicle's roof! This is the final episode of The Dukes of Hazzard's first season. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1979
With an unbilled Waylon Jennings providing verbal and musical punctuation throughout, the premiere episode of The Dukes of Hazzard chronicles the latest adventures of cousins Luke and Bo Duke (Tom Wopat, John Schneider), a pair of hot-roddin' Good Ole Boys living in Hazzard County ("East of the Mississippi and South of the Ohio") with their sensible Uncle Jesse (Denver Pyle) and their curvaceous female cousin Daisy (Catherine Bach). With their moonshine-running activities "officially" thwarted by the terms of their probation, Luke and Bo have to get their kicks flummoxing and outrunning the local corrupt authorities, rotund county boss Jefferson Davis Hogg (Sorrell Booke) and Hogg's brother-in-law, Sheriff Roscoe P. Coltrane (James Best, here playing his role along more embittered and less buffoonish lines than he would in future episodes). On this occasion, the Dukes thwart Roscoe's latest crooked enterprise, namely smuggling slot machines across the border, by hijacking the machines and giving the money therein to local orphanages and charities. Naturally, Roscoe tries to arrest the boys, only to find that he'll make a public fool of himself--and probably be voted out of office--if he takes any action at all! Ernie W. Brown, here cast as Dobro Dullyn, would later return in the semiregular role of L.B. Davenport. This is the first of five episodes filmed on location in Covington, Georgia. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1975
- PG
Writer/director Gy Waldron makes his feature film debut with the 1975 action comedy Moonrunners. Cousins Grady (James Mitchum) and Bobby Lee (Kiel Martin) run moonshine for their wise old Uncle Jessie (Arthur Hunnicutt). Lately, though, his fine quality liquor hasn't been moving that much. That's because boorish businessman Jake Rainey (George Ellis) has been trying to take over all the moonshine running in the area. He'll stop at nothing to shut down Uncle Jessie's little operation, including paying off the local law enforcement officers and recruiting speed driver Zeebo (Pete Munro). When Jake tries to buy out Uncle Jessie's stock, Grady and Bobby Lee plan a little operation of their own. Meanwhile, Grady carries on an affair with Jake's wife Reba (Joan Blackman) and Bobby Lee falls in love with blonde runaway Beth (Chris Forbes). Outlaw country singer Waylon Jennings narrates and composes the musical score. If this whole premise sounds familiar, it's because director Waldron was also the creator of the TV series The Dukes of Hazzard. Based on this film, the show debuted four years later on CBS. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Mitchum, Kiel Martin, (more)
